"Um, excuse me?" I choke. How in the world did we get from her brother to a weapon?

"You want a weapon. You're gonna need it." She says happily. "Pick a place. Athena---the goddess of wisdom and smart battle moves. Smart weapons. Ares---the god of war. Fun weapons. Hephaestus... well, actually, not him. Their stuff is kinda... Wacko right now. So---smart weapon, or fun weapon?"

Sera's expression begs me to pick a fun weapon.

"I've never even punched someone." I say helplessly. "I try to avoid fights."

Sera sighs dramatically. "Fine. Smart weapon."

She leads me towards a cabin with an owl over the top. Athena, then. Right when I think we're about to enter it, we turn away and go around the side to a small shack of sorts.

"In here." Sera opens up the door, revealing rows of weapons littered all over the walls. Swords, spears, knives---whatever a battle-happy kid could want.

"Wow." Sera whistles appreciatively. "They've stocked up since I was last in here."

I turn to her. "What weapon do you use?"

She reaches towards her side, patting an empty spot on her leg. "Gift from my dad. Invisible to everyone but me and my brother. Even other kids of Ares can't see it. It's a knife---Celestial bronze---but when I want, I can will it to turn into a spear or a sword. I prefer sword mode, so it's been in that for a while now."

"What if someone walks by you and loses a finger?"

"Eh. Then Solace'll fix 'em up." She shrugs.

"What weapon would you recommend for me?" I ask, gesturing around the room. Sera comes up next to me, tapping her chin thoughtfully. Then she turns to me, looking me up and down.

"Well, I'm no Athena kid... but you're a bit on the small side, so nothing flashy. Nothing heavy. Maybe something small, concealable..."

I turn to the smaller weapons. Dart guns, knives, and the like. My eyes lands on an interesting knife that seems to command my gaze, a pitch-black scabbard with an iron handle leaning against the wall.

I reach for it, and Sera turns to see what I'm looking at. "Ellie, don't---"

I grab it anyways, unsheathing it easily. Sera makes a squeaking noise very unlike the war-like girl I've gotten used to in the past hour, but I examine the knife. Like the scabbard, it's as dark as night, almost smoke-like with a metallic sheen. It's a bit on the long side, about twenty inches, with deadly edges.

"I like this one." I say, sheathing it again and turning to Sera. But instead of looking happy that I've found a suitable killing tool, her face is ashen. "What?" I ask. "Am I not supposed to use this one?"

She shakes her head slowly. "No, you're allowed to... but that's... Holy Hera, that's... a... ah... very unique weapon."

"Why?"

She reaches for it gingerly, using my wrist lowering it. I hadn't even realized I'd been pointing the scabbard her way. Understanding she's really nervous about it, I fasten the scabbard to my belt and focus on her. "Why is this a bad knife?"

Sera gulps. "Because you're... I know who your dad is, now."

_____________________________

I realize it's short, but I mean, c'mon, it's such a fun cliffhanger. (For those of you who might not've read "Elicia's Ice/Ellie's Flame". 

XD

Also----who has heard Sofia Carson's new song "Grey Area??" I LOVE IT. So catchy. :)

ALSO---CAN WE JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT FROZEN 2 IS DRAWING NEARER AND NEARER!?!?! *screams*

Also I think I might've mentioned this on a past chapter, but whatever---I've FINALLY seen High School Musical 3. FINALLY. AND I LOVED IT!!!! "Scream" and "Can I Have This Dance" are my favorites, I think.    :)